


Siren Song

by paranoidangel



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 07:18:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5447957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paranoidangel/pseuds/paranoidangel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The team investigate an underwater village with some familiarities.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Siren Song

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aqualegia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aqualegia/gifts).



> Beta by Selenay.

"Well, that's creepy."

At John's comment, Rodney stood beside him to get a better look. The Jumper skimmed just beneath the surface of the sea on P5X-162. It wasn't a deep ocean - the Stargate was only just about underwater, but it was enough to prevent anyone coming through on foot.

As John guided the Jumper round the abandoned town, the lights picked out the remains of the crumbling buildings. They were mainly made from white stone. Based on what was left, it looked like a browner stone created different patterns on each one. Blue and orange fish swam around them, not bothered by the interloper in their midst.

Not for that first time, Rodney though John was a bit crazy. "Of all the things you've seen in this galaxy, you think an abandoned underwater town is creepy."

"It kinda is."

Rodney looked behind him to glare at Ronon, not that it was ever likely to have any effect, but it was the principle of the thing. He didn't miss John's smile as he returned to his seat.

Maybe it was because everyone else was preoccupied by the state of the buildings, whereas Rodney was more concerned with learning what had happened here so he could present it to the group. Maybe he just happened to be looking in the right direction at the right time. Maybe it was because this wasn't blue or orange, that he noticed it. "Oh my god."

John looked round at Rodney worried, but Rodney was still staring, agape, at the patch of water at the top of the windshield.

"Did you see that?" Rodney pointed, but it was gone now.

John frowned and shook his head. "Did I see what?"

"A mermaid." He looked round at John. "With long, blond hair and no clothes. I can't believe you of all people missed her."

John smiled the smile that said he thought Rodney was crazy. "Mermaids aren't real."

"What's a mermaid?" Ronon asked.

"They have the body of a woman, but a tail in place of legs." It didn't look like she was coming back. She'd probably come to investigate the Jumper, but it had scared her off and he was not about to volunteer to go scuba diving. But why wasn't the life signs detector picking her up? He fiddled with the settings.

While Ronon frowned over that description, Teyla asked, "How do they breathe underwater? Are there mer... men?"

"They're a myth," John replied, while Rodney was busy with more important matters. "Ancient mariners claimed to see mermaids, but they were probably sea cows. They hadn't seen a woman in a while, they were bound to be seeing things that weren't there. It was considered unlucky to have a woman on a ship," he added.

"Sea cows look similar to humans?" Teyla didn't sound sure. In fact she sounded like she thought the whole legend was crazy. Rodney agreed, but then once upon a time he would have said the same about the lost city of Atlantis.

"Yes, if they're fat humans." Rodney looked up from the life signs detector that obviously wasn't calibrated for mermaids. "But that wasn't a sea cow. Or the Pegasus equivalent. I know what I saw. And I have seen a woman recently."

"Well, keep your eyes out for any more." John turned back to his instruments, but his tone suggested he didn't believe a word Rodney said.

"Did the people who lived here have anywhere to go when their town flooded?" Teyla asked, changing the subject before Rodney could protest any more.

"Let's take a look."

Rodney thought that John might bring up the HUD or maybe keep flying (was it still called flying underwater? The Jumper could hardly be said to be swimming). But no, instead he pointed the Jumper straight up and into a low orbit. At least this way they could see with their own eyes, but Rodney was sure John just did it because he was bored with the slow underwater flying they'd been doing since coming through the Stargate.

"It is all water," Teyla breathed, leaning forward, her eyes wide and her expression worried. It was the bluest planet Rodney had ever seen, but you could definitely have too much blue. "I think I have heard tales of this place. It is said that the people flooded their town to hide it from the Wraith."

"And killed themselves?" John's tone was skeptical as he looked over at Teyla.

She shook her head. "They became water dwellers instead."

"Mermaids," Rodney pointed out.

"Perhaps." But Teyla didn't sound sure. "It is only a story. One of many we have found no evidence of."

"Any idea what caused it?" John asked Rodney. "If this planet wasn't populated solely by mermaids who built all their houses underwater."

Rodney rolled his eyes at that illogic. "Yes, because I'm such a genius I only need ten minutes and my eyes to tell me everything I need to know." John gave him a look and Rodney sighed. "No, I don't know what caused it."

John shrugged. "Okay, so let's take a look around, see what we can find."

What they found was a lot of water and no signs of life. Rodney was wondering if the sensors were working at all until they picked up something else. "There's an energy signature down there. Very faint."

John finally brought up the HUD, which showed the energy signature Rodney had detected coming from the bottom of the planet-sized ocean, not far from the edge of the town. "Let's go check it out."

Before anyone could object, he'd pointed the Jumper at it and a couple of minutes later they were skimming along the sea bed towards a structure that looked awfully like an Ancient building. It had an airlock big enough to park the Jumper in, which reinforced the Ancient building theory.

"Looks Ancient," John said, looking around him as they exited the airlock.

"Yes, yes." Rodney was already checking his tablet - the life signs detector not having picked up any life signs, apart from theirs.

"Someone else was here." 

Rodney looked up sharply, but whoever it was wasn't here now. Given the way Ronon was running his fingers down a scorch mark on the wall, they hadn't been friendly. "I'm guessing Wraith," Rodney said.

"It could have been anyone."

Rodney rolled his eyes, sure John said that just to be contrary. "There must be records. We could at least find out what they were doing here."

"All right." John seemed to know where to go. Or he was guessing and looking confident. Rodney would bet on the latter, but didn't have any grounds for complaint given that they were heading into the middle of the structure. That's where Rodney would put the most sensitive equipment, if he knew he was likely to be attacked.

At last they reached a big, airy room. Or it would be airy if it didn't smell as damp as the rest of the place. But it had workstations around it, so it was bound to have some information. Rodney plugged his tablet into the first one and found a map of the base, which he projected onto the screen on the wall. "Some of it's flooded," he said, pointing out those areas to the others. They'd been lucky they were all on the other side of this room and away from the airlock.

"You stay here, see what you can find. We'll check the non-flooded areas," John said. "Stay in radio contact."

John, Teyla and Ronon went off, leaving Rodney in blissful silence. At least for a couple minutes.

"McKay, I found a fish tank."

"A fish tank?" Rodney stopped typing and frowned, even though John couldn't see him.

"Yeah, it's got a baby mermaid in it. Oh, wait, it's a goldfish." John coughed and then dissolved into laughter.

Rodney sighed. "Ha, ha, very funny."

Fortunately, Ronon was more sensible. "Wraith weapons fire," he said, over the radio. "And-- ow."

Rodney checked the life signs detector to see where Ronon was.

"I think this area is flooded."

Rodney sighed. "Did you have to touch the shield to work that out?"

"Can you tell why it's flooded?" Teyla asked.

"Wraith?" Ronon guessed.

"Rodney?" John asked.

"Yes, I can do three things at once. Which would you like first?"

"Just find the database." John sounded irritated, but really, what did he expect? Rodney was only one person, even if he regularly did enough for three people.

The quickest way to work was to quiet the others. And sure enough, once he had a few minutes of peace, he found something far more interesting than evidence of Wraith weapons fire. "I was right! Mermaids exist." There was silence at this pronouncement and Rodney frowned as he double checked he'd definitely turned his radio back on.

"In here?" John eventually asked.

"No, not in here." Honestly, how was he so stupid? "This is an Ancient lab. They were experimenting with turning humans into mermaids. Merpeople."

"Well, any longer in this corridor and I'm going to turn into a merman." John didn't sound happy.

Rodney checked the map and found that where John was the shield had failed - or he'd touched something to turn it off, Rodney wouldn't put it past him. But when Rodney tried to get it back up, it beeped a no can do noise at him. "I don't think there's power for any more shields," he said slowly. He managed to convince the system to open the door to let John out, though.

"Ronon, Teyla, fall back to Rodney's position." Splashing accompanied John's order.

When John returned, dripping, and flanked by Ronon and Teyla, his first question was, "What did you do?" John squelched as he came over to Rodney, and his pants were wet from the knees down.

"Turned the power on," Rodney said, but he bristled at the implication. "Only enough to check the database," he added, defensively. Given what had happened when they arrived in Atlantis he was hardly about to switch all the lights on without verifying the presence of a fully charged ZPM. Which evidence suggested there was not. "There wasn't a lot left. I don't know how long the rest of the shields will last."

John frowned. "That sounds familiar."

"Something else will too." Rodney tapped the tablet's screen to project a simulation of what happened on the planet. It looked similar to ones he'd seen back on Earth, with global warming leading to rising sea levels. Except in this case it continued until there was no land left.

"They sunk the planet?" John sounded as if he thought it was crazy. The Ancients probably were. "They always have to go one better, don't they?"

"I don't think now is the best time to stand around discussing it." Rodney paused the simulation and brought the map back up. It showed rising water levels and failing shields all around the building, and it was getting closer.

"Can we take any of their database?" John asked.

Rodney patted one of his chest pockets. "Already downloaded. Any other miracles you'd like me to perform today?"

"I'll let you know."

"We gotta go. Now." Ronon raced over to the door they'd come from and stood by it.

Rodney was not about to put himself in harm's way unnecessarily, so he unplugged the tablet, picked up the life signs detector and followed the others. Hearing a breaking wave coming from the corridor on the other side of the lab turned his jog into a sprint, with Ronon close behind him.

But the water was faster. They splashed through it, closing doors as they went. It wasn't enough, though. By the time they reached the airlock it was above their knees and they were all wading. It felt like something out of a nightmare, where you were trying to run from something, but could never get up any speed. Plus the water was cold: Rodney had already lost all feeling in his feet. Any deeper and he was going to start having flashbacks - although if they came with visions of Samantha Carter he wouldn't complain too much.

At least the airlock was designed to pump water out of it. However, that took power and when Rodney tried it, there wasn't enough left to do much more than reduce the lake down to their ankles.

"It's just a bit of water, we'll be fine," John said, opening the Jumper, thus letting the water into it.

"Just a bit of water?" Rodney complained as he splashed his way to his chair. "I happen to have very bad memories of nearly drowning, in case you've forgotten." He tried kneeling on the seat, although it wasn't as if his feet could get any wetter.

John ignored that perfectly valid reminder and instead asked, "Rodney, can you get this airlock open?"

There was that no can do noise again that Rodney was starting to hate almost as much as the prospect of spending time in a Jumper full of water again. "I think the water's fried the electrics," he concluded. "Or we're out of power." It didn't matter which any more.

"We'll try plan B." John sounded unconcerned.

Plan B turned out to involve blasting the doors with a drone. Which of course caused what was left of the doors to splinter back towards the Jumper, bouncing off the windshield.

"Are you crazy?" Rodney shouted, his arms up to protect his face. "You could have killed us." He was sure only John Sheppard's dumb luck had prevented the screen from cracking.

"But I didn't," John said calmly. Sometimes Rodney was convinced the man had a death wish. "I'm going to dump this water," he continued, angling the Jumper up towards the surface. That at least meant the water pooled at the back of the Jumper. Rodney contemplated taking his boots off to empty them out.

Once in the air, John closed the back compartment, opened the door and waited for the water to pour back into the ocean before reversing his actions. "Everyone okay?" he asked.

Rodney wrung the bottom of his pants out, but then his hands were too wet to use the tablet. "No, I'm freezing. I hate being cold. You know how much I hate being wet."

Ronon muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "You keep reminding us."

Before Rodney could confront him, John glanced back over his shoulder and asked, "What was with the merpeople? Did you find out why they flooded the planet?"

It was just as well Rodney had managed to find all this information out before the others let the water in. Otherwise John would probably come back here with diving equipment and force Rodney to go with him. Whoever thought it was a good idea to swim underwater with only minimal equipment for air was crazy.

"They were trying to modify humans to make them inedible for Wraith," he explained. "They decided something amphibious was the way to go. At least, they added gills and a tail. The experiment was a success, they just needed some Wraith to test it on."

Ronon frowned. "They invited the Wraith here?"

Rodney agreed with Ronon, that was monumentally stupid. Even for Ancients. But compared to some of the other things they'd done, not that unusual. "All I found were a lot of committee meeting notes where they discussed it, but couldn't all agree. I don't know if someone invited them or it was inevitable that the Wraith would show up sooner or later."

"What happened?" Teyla asked.

"The Wraith came, the merpeople fled into the sea. And then the Ancients couldn't find them. They spliced their DNA with a rare fish, so they don't show up on the life signs detector. And before you ask," he added, holding up a hand, "we can't use it because they made the fish extinct."

"There are days when I really hate Ancients," John said.

"So did the Wraith. They couldn't go after the merpeople, so they went after the Ancients. And the Ancients sunk the planet."

John shook his head.

"Can we talk to these merpeople?" Teyla asked. 

"It's been ten thousand years," Rodney replied. "There's no land. They're probably more like fish than amphibians by now. And how do you even talk under water?"

"There are other ways to communicate," John pointed out.

"If you understand them, be my guest," Rodney said.

"Let's get back to Atlantis," John conceded. "See what else we can find in that database and come back another time. These people don't seem to be going anywhere." He pointed the Jumper back down, towards the underwater Stargate.

Finally! "I need to get these wet clothes off before I get hypothermia."

"It's not that cold," John said, dialing the Gate. "And you might want to wait until you get to your quarters. You'll scare people, running around naked." John pushed the last symbol and turned to grin at Rodney.

Rodney gave John a look in return. "If that's the case, I know what I'm wearing next Halloween."


End file.
